Got to love surprises !

A couple of years ago, while checking out the antique stores at Paddington (Brisbane)

my daughter and I saw a marshmallowy pink cane chair, of 50's era.  It caught my eye, but it had to stay there that day.  Next time we went there of course the chair had gone.  So I didnt need to dream of sitting in "my" pink cane chair, doing my stitching projects, because there was no chair.

Last night, I walked into my garage/sewing room, and there was MY pink cane chair.  Yes, the exact same one!!!!  (dont check out the grotty floor).

It is!!!  The woman who purchased it has to downsize and had put it for sale on ebay.  (Sometimes you have to love ebay!!!)  My daughter spotted it, alerted my hubby and the rest is history.

What is even better is that a few months after missing out on that chair, I bought a chair from the same store to use at my computer.  I love its shabby pinkness, and dont mind at all that it is just a little wobbly.

Check them out sitting together.  A match that was meant to be.

Yes.  Just perfect, especially when I make a cushion for it.

The week that was.....

The past week I have been working on some WIPs and a UFO.

This quilt came about by default.  When I bought my first machine embroidery program some years ago I experimented with the different functions, taking some butterfly designs and altering them in all sorts of ways to see what the program could do.  I stitched them out on leftover scraps of fabrics I had dyed.
 I eventually had enough blocks done to be able to piece into a good sized quilt.

 Now, this many years later my first program is not compatible with Windows 7 so I have just bought another program.  This time I have the same quilt out and am doing the same learning experience, but  using the designs I edit to quilt the borders of it.

using butterfly and flower redwork designs.  I am almost half way round the borders, then just a bit more quilting in the blocks, add the binding and it is another UFO completed.

I am also working on these:  (not a very clear photo - better one will come once I have finished)

 to go on this:

the "Give Thanks" free BOM from Jenny of Elefantz.

I also have some catching up to do on this BOM:

the Snow Hearts blocks from here.  It is so relaxing working on these at nights - so why did I get behind?  Who knows.

Hopefully by next weekend I will have achieved great things with these projects.  I wonder.............

A special bloggy meeting, and time on the "farm"

It was such an activity packed week away, catching up with family, staying on a farm in the middle of cane fields, experiencing just a little of their life.  The reason we were there was to celebrate with my brother-in-law on this occasion:

Such a huge highlight was meeting ..........

                                                            ...... Wendy.  (She was SUPPOSED to be selling raffle tickets, but we chatted while Ann did most of the selling).  It was soooo good to meet in person.  When you read a person's blog regularly you do get to know quite a bit about their day to day life, but to meet is so special.  I wish we had had more time but I had to remind myself that I was there for a family occasion and needed to spend most of my time with them.  Still, as we have family living there and there are farm houses we can stay in, maybe we can plan another trip up there before too long, and hopefully be able to stay a little longer also. 

I got to see close up the beautiful quilt Wendy's quilting group is raffling.  It is even more beautiful in real view - made by some very talented quilters - a beautiful prize.

Staying in the middle of the cane fields during harvest time meant we were able to see some of the action.

Explore a picturesque spot on the river.

We kept a close watch, but didnt see any crocs.  Wonder if they saw us, or if they were in a different spot on that day.
AND...... I dressed up in this glamorous outfit........

while we got up close and personal with these little guys

resulting in a jar of very fresh honey.

Our time  came to an end way too quickly, but we did fit in a visit to these friendly creatures -

the cattle my B-I-L keeps.  Most of them are off to the abbatoir in the next couple of weeks, but not yet for this fellow - under my hand he has a "red patch", and he is named KD after my red headed B-I-L.

Three little mice, and ....visiting a friend

Fiona has just finished off her 3 little 'meeces', so thought I would show the three I have just finished.

One Christmas one of my friends gave these little mouse pincushions as Christmas gifts.

  She then agreed to teach us how to make them, including the hardanger on their backs.

I finished one, which then went on a plane flight to live in UK.  The other three have been sitting in their little box waiting to be completed for over a year, so last night was their night. 
Now they are ready to go to their new homes to be loved and used.

On Thursday we are heading off to visit family in North Queensland.  And..... the excitingest thing is that we will be staying in the town where Wendy lives.  So we have arranged to meet up.  Blogging quilting friends are the best, so to be able to meet Wendy is awesome.  Cant wait.

Here she is........

Yesterday I picked up my new sewing machine, the prize I won at the Quilters Muster.  It came from Janome to Sew Creative at Gatton, then to my LQS, Sew This and That, and finally to my eager hands.

So here she is:

complete with all these bits and pieces .

Today I am going to give her a lot of attention as I work out all of this:

She even has a bonus walking foot and 1/4 inch foot included.  Just perfect !!!

I think I am going to LOVE getting to know this girl.  I think she is going to accompany me to lots of my classes and sewing get togethers.  (Much lighter than my lovely Hussy.  - mind you I still love my Hussy.)

Closeups of the train

Wendy asked me if I would take some closeups of the train quilt to show the detail - so here they are.

The carriage in the last photo has an opening door with crocodiles inside - what more could a boy want!!!

The train quilt part 1 and 2

I have pulled out another UFO to work on.  This row by row is for another grandson.  I really need to finish it before he gets too old.  This is the top 2 rows of 5.  This one I have been designing as I go, so it has been slow progress - hunting for pictures in books or clipart, then drawing it to the right size and working from there.  Again I am doing it quilt as you go. Another 2 rows are almost ready for quilting but the 5th row isnt started yet.

Here's the engine in close up.  (I assure you it is the photographer who got it crooked, not the quilt maker.)

After the train one, I have a car one and a cowboy one to make.  But they are not UFOs, just plans at this stage.

Its curtains week ...

This week's sewing has consisted of making curtains for my daughter.   We have been pitching in to paint the interior of their house, and the new curtains will finish off the fresh look.

That's two sets down, and a few more ahead.

Meanwhile my companion Molly found herself a warm and cozy spot in the sun to have a snooze.

She stayed there long enough so I guess she was comfortable.

The orange and the blue

Colourful Friday  is here again, and today it is orange and blue.

My first thought was the logo at my work place.  The orange and blue shine so beautifully together.

I work under these colours each working day.  Got to be happy with that.

Check out the sign as we walk in the front door of the office.

Little water boy is quite happy in his orange swim seat in the blue water of the pool.

And again in his orange singlet with the blue Australian flag.

Love the brightness of the blues and oranges in Zac's Transformer quilt.

But even more beautiful is the sashiko quilt worked by Susan Briscoe. 















I had thought this would be a much harder combination to work with, but instead it has amazed me to see so much orange and blue working so well together.
Pop over to see Robyn at Daisy Quilts to see what other people have found today.  Such variety !!!

A fun class and a raggy rug.

Last Friday, the guest class teacher at Sew This and That was Joy from Joy Patch.  Joy taught us her table runner featuring 2 methods of Quilt as you Go.  It was a really good class with an excellent teacher, and the good thing was that we went home with our table runner almost finished (some more finished than others - guess who had to do more reverse sewing than she would have liked to !!!)

Even so I had it  ready for the hand sewing in just a short time at home.  It is now done and ready for use.

If you live close enough to Joy and need a teacher for a class, keep her in mind. You will be very happy with her teaching methods and projects.

The long weekend was a good time to make Harry a raggy rug from the pack of flannel fabrics I bid on and won at the Biggest Morning Tea auction last month.  It is rather cold where he lives, so I am sure it will be very useful.